Penn State, Misericordia students win news scholarships

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Associated Press Media Editors has named Yerin Kim, a senior at Penn State University, and Zoe LaPorte, a senior at Misericordia University, as winners of $1,500 Ralph Flamminio Memorial Scholarships.

Kim and LaPorte were recognized Friday at the annual PAPME awards ceremony in Harrisburg.

PAPME's award, honoring the former editor of The Morning Call in Allentown and Coatesville Record, salutes outstanding Pennsylvania college students who best display the ideals of Ralph Flamminio — passionate about journalism and the First Amendment, and champions for a better-informed citizenry.

Kim, 21, a broadcast journalism and media studies major at Penn State University, is the senior show producer and writer for the school's Public Affairs Television. She recently managed and produced a special featuring in-depth team coverage of the opioid crisis in Pennsylvania. In her work with the school's World in Conversation Project, Kim facilitates civil conversations around relevant and often-contentious social and cultural issues. Kim is a graduate of Eastern High School in Voorhees, New Jersey.

LaPorte, 22, is an English/mass communications and design major at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pa. Laporte has worked as a features and investigative reporter, multimedia editor, social media producer, and photographer for the school's award-winning newspaper, The Highlander. This year, she has broadcast sporting events for the school's television station, MCN 87, and has hosted a show on Cougar Radio. Laporte is a graduate of Wyoming Area Secondary Center in Exeter, Pa.